>>MONEY AND TAXES! That's why. I've only seen a handful of these things in countries where a real Porsche is taxed at 100% to 300% of its sticker price on importation.
Good point. I guess we should have a little sympathy for those poor sods living in socialist countries!
Ditto on the $20,000 bling 911s. A friend of mine who does body work bought a front end damaged '99 996 for $12,000. He imported a fiberglass 997 front end conversion kit from England (our friends who are so fond of fiberglass) along with a widebody kit and some big-ass 20" HRE replica wheels, and of course, a carbon fiber kit for the interior.
Now the thing looks stunning (he does good work), but under the wild $100,000-looking surface is just a '99 996. With a bad second gear sychro that he refuses to spend the money on fixing. *sigh* There's just no accounting for taste or some people's ego.